I will be getting a student teacher myself in the next few weeks and I wanted to know what one thing really helps student teachers so I asked the question on Instagram and got tons of responses so I decided to put them all together in a blogpost so that other host teachers will know how best to support student teachers in their school and classrooms.
Support
- Be there
- Constructive criticism
- Be busy at the back of the room (rather than just watching the student)
- Be open and friendly
- Make us feel welcome (and not an inconvenience)
- Model good practice
- Don’t interfere
- Run through the lesson content each morning and the teacher can tell you where difficulties may lie
- Leave the classroom for short bursts*
- Email/Phone number – ask a question
- Answer questions
- Be accommodating – requirements are set by College and students don’t have a choice in exactly what they do
- Be excited with the class that we have a new teacher
- Treat us as equals rather than children
- If student teacher is struggling with a particular lesson – let them observe a lesson being taught/ team teach the lesson
- Let the student teacher take the class informally for stories/games/ activities during the observation days
- Model the structure of a lesson
- Helping with navigating the staff room
- Introduce the student to the class and show that the same expectations apply
- Modelling good structure and pace
- Little things like helping distribute worksheets helps a lot
Planning
- Give topics rather than being flexible (as there can be too much to choose from)
- Tell us what they want covered (fear of covering something the children know already)
- Specific topics
- Outline what you have planned to cover (monthly) – not giving free reign
- Agree and stick to the topics as early as possible
- Offer ideas for lessons
- Advice on how to progress a topic – ideas for resources, methodologies, management
- Offer advice on planning – lesson ideas, resources, activities etc
- Give tips for differentiation strategies in lessons
- Allow changes to timetable (where needed)
- This is how I do it/ what works for me
- Share resources
- Share the timetable (really helps with routine for the kids)
- Share how much you would expect to be covered in topics such as maths per week.
Classroom organisation and resources
- Have space ready for us in the classroom (feel welcome)
- Don’t sit at their own desk at the top of the room while student is teaching
- Show you what resources are available in the classroom/school
- Wall space for displays
- Offer resources
- Access to digital programmes
- Help with photocopying
- Help with displays
- Ask what resources might be needed and help to get them organised (There are often tons of resources in the school but student teachers wouldn’t know about them.)
Classroom Management
- Make sure pupils respect the student teacher (class teacher has more influence on pupils than anyone else)
- Try not to interfere
About the Pupils
- Likes/Dislikes
- What works in terms of classroom management, transitions etc.
- Any advice they can give on what works best for their class as you are only getting to know them
- Give mini pupil profiles with any need to know information
- Give tips and advice on levels, abilities, favourite activities etc.
- Advice on how best to support children with additional needs
Feedback
- Constructive criticism – what is going well and something that they need to work on.
- List of strengths and areas for improvement
*Class teachers are not usually allowed to leave the classroom for extended periods when a student teacher is in the classroom as there are implications for insurance, child protection etc. Furthermore – it is good practice for a student teacher to get used to having other teachers in the classroom as in most schools you will have a support teacher in the classroom for different subjects and a lot of classes also have an SNA.